Sunday, January 13, 2013

Residents of a town under siege by the Roman army about 2,000 years ago buried two hoards of treasure in the town's citadel — treasure recently excavated by archaeologists.

More than 200 coins, mainly bronze, were found along with "various items of gold, silver and bronze jewelry and glass vessels" inside an ancient fortress within the Artezian settlement in the Crimea (in Ukraine), the researchers wrote in the most recent edition of the journal Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia.

I'd love to see the catalog of the coins discovered. Should be an interesitng mix as this was a highway of commerce between Rome and the east, and a relatively rich kingdom on its own at the time.

The find in the Bosporan Kingdom dates to the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius, who backed Cotys I against his brother Mithridates VIII. Mithridates VIII then declared war on Cotys I. The upheaval which resulted really didn't go well for Mithradates VIII especially as the Romans had some cohorts in the vicinity and had no problem using them. Romans had been rather rough on rulers named Mithridates since the first Mithraditic War and Mithridates VIII was quickly defeated in three days.

Unfortunately, Cotys I didn't long enjoy his reign, being deposed by the Emperor Nero in AD 63 and the Bosporan Kingdom then became a Roman Province.